Paper in Fire
by MagzDD
Summary: Chaotic one shot. Raven tries desperately to tell Beast Boy how she feels without Emotional Overdrive. More romantic & suspensful than meets the eye...


**_ESSENTIAL AUTHORS NOTE:_** I do not own Teen Titans, I do not own the song, and I DO NOT own the title. The last two are property of the God of Music…ALL HAIL JOHN MELLENCAMP! Enjoy, and plz review!

_She had a dream  
And boy it was a good one  
So she chased after her dream  
With much desire  
But when she got too close  
To her expectations  
Well the dream burned up  
Like paper in fire  
_

Raven ran her hand through her sweat-clumped hair. Beast Boy had said her most hated words…it wouldn't bother her so much if she didn't already know that she loved him as well. People always said that love was supposed to be a roller-coaster of emotions. And they were right. Some things in her room melted, some fell to the floor, some things had broken, and other things just plain exploded. Thankfully, nothing valuable. A knock came to her door, and she questioned who it was. "It's Beast Boy."

_Paper in fire  
Stinkin´ up the ashtrays  
Paper in fire  
Smokin´ up the alleyways  
Who´s to say the way  
A man should spend his days  
Do you let them smolder  
Like paper in fire  
_

Raven huffed out a sigh, and opened the door just enough to see his face. "Hey Raven. I was wondering how you were." Bashful, Beast Boy used his shoe to trace a circle on the floor in front of her room. "Hehe. I uh…guess that was quite a bombshell I dropped on you earlier huh?"

Biting the inside of her cheek, Raven thought about her now obscurely tilted bookshelf. "I guess one could say that…"

_He wanted love  
With no involvement  
So he chased the wind  
That's all his silly life required  
And the days of vanity  
Went on forever  
And he saw his days burn up  
Like paper in fire  
_

"So I was hoping we could talk. I know you might not be in the mood, but I think we need to clear the air."

Impressed by his willingness to deal with the situation firsthand, Raven nodded. "Okay," then she let him in.

Beast Boy sighed with relief. He didn't think that Raven would let him in so easily, but he wasn't about to complain. "Okay, I know you were probably a little freaked out when I told you that I…loved you." He finally noticed the condition of her room, and her blush enabled him to put two and two together. "Uh…okay, an understatement...anyway, I know how scary this must be, but you've gotta understand my point of view."

_Paper in fire  
Stinkin' up the ashtrays  
Paper in fire  
Smokin' up the alleyways  
Who's to say the way  
A man should spend his days  
Do you let them smolder  
Like paper in fire  
_

"You've been there for me…whether you meant to be or not, I don't know. But with you never laugh at my old jokes, I've bee inspired to make new-and-improved ones! And…eheh...of course you already know how pretty you are." The last statement had Raven blushing, and Beast Boy scratching his neck. "Anyway, I was hoping that we could…take the next step. But, if you don't want it…then I'd rather just be friends again. Because I'd rather have you as a friend than not have you at all.

'Just be friends?'

"So, whatever you choose Raven, I'm fine with."

_There's a good life  
Right across the green fields  
And each generation  
Stares at it from afar  
But we keep no check  
On our appetites  
So the green fields turn to brown  
Like paper in fire  
_

Raven looked down, and fell back on her bed, distressed, confused, touched, and painfully love-sick. She heard a yelp, and looked up to see Beast Boy cringing at a tilting mirror. It fell to the floor with a loud shatter, causing Raven to leap up, and clutch her head, the purple hood falling. Enough was enough! Everything was falling apart, including her friendship! Even worse, everything was breaking…including her heart. "Why wont it stop? I'm so sick of this! Everything's going to break before this ends! I can't take it anymore!"

"HEY! Raven relax!" Beast Boy grabbed her wrists, and pulled them away from her head, trying to stop her from twisting and turning so much. She whimpered painfully, tugging at his heart. He pulled her close, and stroked her hair, angered that he'd hurt her so bad. Unaware of the comfort his love gave.

_Paper in fire  
Stinkin´ up the ashtrays  
Paper in fire  
Smokin´ up the alleyways  
Who´s to say the way  
A man should spend his days  
Do you let them smolder  
Like paper in fire_

Raven snuggled closer, the stroke of his hand surprisingly calming. She closed her eyes, and stepped a little closer. The question he had asked replayed in her head, but she didn't stiffen, for she didn't want to leave such a warm embrace just yet.

She bit her lip, the words she had been longing to say on the tip of her tongue. Why were they so much harder to say than they were to think? Perhaps it was because she didn't want to go into an emotional overdrive and in some way hurt Beast Boy with flying furniture. But…nothing was breaking anymore…

Raven looked up. His eyes were shining with concern and hope. Licking her lips, she took the plunge. "I love you Beast Boy."

His smile was radiant and handsome. When she saw no sign of destruction, Raven smiled back, a delighted smile, full of pearly teeth. Perhaps she could hope that her emotions would be more lax, not burn so powerfully that they destroyed everything around her.

His lips suddenly came down to hers, even though hers was still open with a smile. Her eyes fell shut, and her arms came around his neck as she fervently kissed him back, her emotions not burning remotely bad enough to destroy anything else in her room. It was more like…

Paper in Fire…

**THE END! HOPE YOU LIKED IT!**


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